page_title: Temple of Hera, Olympia
section_title: Columns
hierarchical_section_title: Temple of Hera, Olympia / Description / Columns
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Dorisches Kapitell vom Heraion in Olympia. Dorisches Kapitell vom Heratempel (Ostseite, 4. Säule von Süd). Echinus. Limburgs: Dorische orde in Hera-tempel. Nederlands: Dorisch kapiteel van de Hera-tempel in Olympia. Dorisch kapiteel van de Hera-tempel in Olympia met een echinus onder de abacus. Svenska: Den runda ekinus under den fyrkanta abakus på en dorisk pelare av Hera-templet i Olympia.
context_page_description: The Temple of Hera, or Heraion, is an ancient Archaic Greek temple at Olympia, Greece, that was dedicated to Hera, queen of the Greek Gods. It was the oldest temple at Olympia and one of the most venerable in all Greece. It was originally a joint temple of Hera and Zeus, chief of the gods, until a separate temple was built for him. It is at the altar of this temple, which is oriented east-west, that the Olympic flame is lit and carried to all parts of the world. The torch of the Olympic flame is lit in its ruins to this day. The temple was built in approximately 590 BC, but was destroyed by an earthquake in the early 4th century CE.
context_section_description: A long-standing theory holds that the columns were only gradually replaced with stone ones due to the wood rotting out, and other natural and man-made events. In the second century AD, one of the two columns in the opisthodomos was still oak. As the replacements took place at widely differing periods between the Archaic and Roman periods, and were carved under the influence of their respective contemporary styles, they differ considerably in proportions and detail. This becomes apparent in the columns' capitals, as each one is slightly different from the next. Another theory holds that the columns are so different, not because wooden columns were being replaced, but because various workshops erected different stone columns at the same time. Perhaps each style represented the major city-states or private donors for whom these builders were working, as Olympia was a pan-Doric sanctuary. No remains of the entablature above the columns were found, but are believed to have been wooden.
caption: Doric capital at the Temple of Hera (east side, 4th column from south corner)
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